The Jacobson Family

Newborn Photos

2011-03-03T17:00:00.005-07:00

Earlier this week my mom helped me take some adorable pictures of Audrey.

Baby Audrey

2011-02-25T09:40:00.003-07:00

I am a terrible blogger. Four kids is a lot of kids and I find it difficult to find time for myself, let alone blogging. However, my sister lives a thousand miles from me and needs to see pictures of my new baby girl. Who knows, maybe this will stat a new trend of occasional blogging; or not.

Meet Audrey Louise Jacobson. Born February 10, 2011 at 7:25 am. She was 7lb. and 20 inches long. She is perfect and we love her!

Quick Update

2010-07-25T23:06:00.002-07:00

I'm short on time, so no pictures today, but I do have a bit of exciting news to share. Two pieces of information really. The first is that I'm pregnant! The Baby is due in February. And the next order of business is that we will be moving back to AZ in a few weeks. Mark is transferring to ASU, so we get to move closer to family. We are really excited about these changes and also nervous. We are also super busy with packing and trying to find somewhere to live. It also doesn't help that I'm sick and just getting out of bed is difficult, so needless to say, not much packing has gotten done yet. We are excited for the changes though and hope to very productive over the next few weeks. Hope everyone is doing well.

Ryder's Walking!

2010-05-27T08:50:00.002-07:00

Ryder has started to learn to walk. It's fun to see him take his first steps. He falls a lot, but he always gets right back up and tries again.

Mother's Day

2010-05-10T15:57:00.002-07:00

Mother's Day is always a great day for me, but this year was extra fun. Dallin is finally old enough to do things for me instead of Mark doing everything and saying the boys "helped". Dallin decorated a flower pot for me and planted a flower in it. He also made me an adorable card and a host of other things in primary. What a fun thing for me as a mom. Another highlight was he is finally in primary and was able to go to the front to sing. He seemed unsure and only sang a little bit, but for a sunbeam any singing is good, right? We had dinner as a family and then we had to enjoy a popsicle outside since the weather has been so nice.

Michael & Jennica's Wedding

2010-04-22T15:00:00.008-07:00

For Spring Break we went to AZ for Michael & Jennica's wedding.

What a cute group of cousins. Elliot, Landon, Steven, Dallin & Ryder.

What a cute couple.

My mom got a few good pictures of our family.

I don't want to brag or anything, but check out the cute skirt I made for the wedding. I had no idea I had sewing capabilities of that nature. Right now I'm working on this killer red dress. We'll see how that works out for me.

April

2010-04-22T15:00:00.006-07:00

April has been a fun month.

Out of nowhere flowers popped up in my front yard. I didn't plant the bulbs, so they must have already been there. What a pleasant surprise.

We had some friends over to decorate Easter eggs. the kids had a lot of fun.

On Easter we went to the Crandell's house for dinner and an Easter egg hunt.

Harrison, Elliot, Steven, Dallin and Landon.

It's very rare that all 3 boys sit still at the same time.

For Easter I made a strawberry mascarpone tart and a cheesecake. Both very yummy.

It's been getting warmer outside so the boys get to play in the yard quite a bit. Check out the "popcorn" on our tree.

Yesterday was my birthday. After dinner we hung out in the back yard. I'm so glad it's starting to warm up again.

November

2009-12-06T21:44:00.004-07:00

I really should post more often, but I still don't have a desk so I have to kneel down to use the computer and that is too painful to do for extended periods of time. Unfortunately, I have not been very diligent in taking pictures. That means I don't have much to show for November, but here it is anyway.

Mark turned 30. Are we really getting that old? Yes.

I saw this cake in the Martha Stewart Living magazine years ago and cut out the recipe. I knew I wanted to make it, but wanted to wait for a special occasion. It didn't turn out as I had envisioned, but I think it turned out pretty well. Plus it was really yummy.

Steven turned 2. I wanted to be more ambitious with his cake, but we were really sick for 2 weeks and I could hardly make a cake. He was happy with it and that's all that matters.

I have tried to make french bread numerous times, but it never works for me. It's always flat, but I followed the instructions this time and it actually worked. Plus it tasted good.

Ryder started solids. He seems to like them, but he is not a fast learner. He spits it out, blows raspberries constantly and doesn't eat very much. I'm hoping he gets better at it quickly.

It snowed and Mark and Steven built a snowman. Dallin said it was too cold to go outside. I agreed with Dallin.

Mark said the snowman looked angry. He probably just knew he was going to melt later that day.

We had girls night and went to see New Moon. We had pizza and lots of fun. I can't wait for Eclipse.

Update

2009-10-18T19:46:00.004-07:00

Things have been crazy the last 2 months so here is an update for anyone that might be wondering.

I am not good at moving. My house is still not fully unpacked and may never be. But we like it here and we have made new friends so life is good.

So everyone can catch up with us here are pictures and brief descriptions of everything we have been doing the last couple of months.

Mark with the boys. Everyone is getting so big I can hardly believe it.

Yesterday I took Dallin to see Toy Story and Toy Story 2 in 3D. He loved it, but refused to wear the glasses. I had a lot of fun and am excited for Toy Story 3 this summer.

Check out my little smurf.

Ryder has been so smiley lately. He has decided he doesn't want his pacifier very often. Instead he would like me to hold him. Smart kid.

Mark customized our master bedroom closet for me. Before it was one rod on each side and I couldn't fit anything in there. This is much more functional and I love it. I have been able to unpack so many more of my boxes, which has been great. What a great husband I have.

Mark put in hanging rods, shelves and lots of shelving just for shoes. It's so nice.

Dallin is daddy's little helper and Mark let him hammer some of the nails. He had a fun time helping daddy.

I have a friend who is having a baby so for her shower I sewed this nursing cover. I didn't know I was capable of such a task. It turned out really well. Go me.

Steven no longer has any dietary restrictions and he is loving it. Here he is eating pudding. I think he likes it. Ha ha.

Ryder learned how to roll over on Monday, October 5. He rolled from back to tummy first and then from tummy to back. He is the only one of my children who has done that. He was able to accomplish both on the same day. What a smart kid.

Conference weekend we built a lego tower al the way to the ceiling. It even stood by itself for a minute. Dallin thought that was great fun.

Dallin started preschool. I joined a preschool group with some women in the ward. I'm really excited for him and he loves it too. He asks to go to preschool all of the time. Last week they went to the pumpkin patch and he picked his own pumpkin. I get to teach for the first time this week. I'm crossing my fingers it goes well. I've never done anything like this before and I'm a little nervous. I'm sure the kids will have a blast though and they won't care what I do.

The leaves aren't falling off of the trees yet, but Dallin is practicing for when they do.

Ryder gets bigger everyday and I can hardly stand how cute he is.

We also got a new toy for the yard. It is the first time the boys have had grass and they love it.

Camping

2009-10-18T19:33:00.004-07:00

A few weeks ago we went camping with some friends. The weather was fantastic and so was the food. There were even horses that someone had brought camping and they were nice enough to let us pet them.

Sam helping Dallin feed the horse.

Ryder all bundled up.

Dallin had a blast with this stick. Kids can be so easily amused.

Ryder and me staying warm.

Smoothie Disaster

2009-08-19T11:39:00.004-07:00

This morning I made a smoothie for the boys. While they were drinking I was packing, what else I would be doing? Anyway, Steven thought it would be fun to get up from the table and join me in the kitchen. Then he took the lid off and spilled it everywhere. the poor kid was sliding all over the place and he couldn't stand up. It would have been funnier if he wasn't so upset about the whole thing. Of course we had to clean up and take a bath. It's a wonder I get anything done around here.

Packing

2009-08-16T13:47:00.004-07:00

I hate moving! In the seven+ years that Mark & I have been married, we have moved once. We moved out of a tiny apartment into our beautiful home. I didn't think we would leave this home until we had at least 4 or 5 children, but plans change. With law school fast approaching and a big move all the way to Washington State I have decided to get a head start on my packing. I have essential been packing since December. Ok, only the Christmas stuff, but I have been packing since February and seriously packing since May.

With all of that packing comes boxes, and lots of them. I can't believe the amount of stuff we own. Nothing nice, but just tons of stuff! What a waste of space. It feels like I have thrown away or given away over half of my possessions (maybe I have). Now my dilemma is where to put all of these boxes. They go various places and it is driving me crazy! The bulk of them are in the dinning room, but the nursery is filled with them too. Plus what is it about moving that means the house is a mess. Nothing has a place where it belongs anymore and things are out all over the place. I have never considered myself a neat freak, but this is driving me crazy!

We sold our office furniture :( I loved that furniture so much. On a good note though, that means the office is... I mean was empty. Now it's full of furniture that has been disassemble and wrapped in stretch wrap waiting to be loaded onto the truck.

I think I might just go crazy trying to pack a house full of belongings while trying to manage all of the boys, but this too shall pass and maybe someday I will look back and laugh at myself.

Here are some pics. I can't wait to move so I can stop stubbing my toes on random items that are out in the open.

I know the office doesn't look like there's much in there, but you can't see all of the walls. In this room there are 3 beds, a nightstand, 2 mattresses, and a bunch of framed artwork. I still have a lot more to put in that room, but there is also more space so that's good.

Photo Shoot

2009-08-06T07:40:00.006-07:00

These pictures were taken over a month ago, but they were so great I had to post them.

I went over to my mom's one day and we took over 200 pictures. These are some of my favorites.

Bath Time

2009-07-26T22:31:00.004-07:00

I know I haven't posted any new pictures of Ryder since he has been born and I plan to post some pictures soon. However, in the meantime I managed to snap these pictures this morning before the camera died.

He just started smiling a couple of weeks ago and I'm loving it!

Ryder Wayne Jacobson

2009-06-06T19:28:00.003-07:00

Ryder Wayne Jacobson was born this morning, June 6, 2009 at 1:58 am. He is 7 lb. 2 oz. and he is 20 inches long. He is healthy and a great eater.

Me holding him this afternoon

Heidi, Mark & Ryder

Heidi, Mark, Ryder, Dallin & Steven

It was quite an ordeal to convince them to sit on the bed with us. I thought kids wanted to climb up onto the hospital bed, but not mine.

Right after Ryder was born

Right after he got bundled up for the first time.

Usually I'm a wimp when it comes to recovery, but I'm actually feeling pretty well today for just having a baby. I'm hoping that feeling lasts.

Ryder and I have to stay at the hospital until Monday so he can be observed. I'm Group B Strep positive and I wasn't in labor long enough to get all of my antibiotics so we get to stay a full 48 hours to make sure he's doing well. I'm looking forward to getting home and sleeping in my own bed.

We have had lots of visitors and we appreciate everyone who has come by. Thanks so much!

Waiting Game

2009-05-29T21:21:00.001-07:00

So I went to the doctor today and I'm 39 1/2 weeks. I am dilated to 1 cm and am basically 0% effaced. Bummer. I don't think this kid will ever come. Hopefully, things change quickly and within the next week or so I will have a post with a beautiful, healthy baby boy in my arms. Wish me luck!

Hospital Gown

2009-05-28T21:25:00.000-07:00

After delivering my last 2 babies in those awful hospital gowns, I thought there must be a better alternative. I looked online, but everything that was cute enough to buy was $70-$100, ouch. I don't sew, but I thought a giant moo-moo would easy enough so I found a pattern online, went to the fabric store and after many, many long hours, finished my first gown. The second one turned out much better and took about a quarter of the time. I absolutely love them! The only problem is that they don't hide that huge belly, I guess that was too much to hope for.

Easter

2009-05-28T19:49:00.002-07:00

The Easter Bunny came to our house during church. He brought fun new toys and even a little candy. Mark and I were out of town for the whole week preceding Easter so it was nice to make it home just in time.

Dallin got a new train for his Geotrax set. He loves trains.

Steven got a set of dinosaur bouncy balls. What a happy kid.

Peaches

2009-05-15T15:41:00.003-07:00

I know I have already told everyone about my grandparents market, but the peaches are finally ripe and only 50 cents a pound! They are so sweet and delicious. Click on the link to get directions and store hours. Hopefully I can make some peach jam and peach butter this week before the baby comes.

http://qcfarmersmarket.blogspot.com

Playing on the stairs

2009-05-12T22:19:00.004-07:00

Until recently the stairs at my mom's house have been blocked, but now Steven can be trusted on the stairs and he is ecstatic.

Look! I made it to the top!

Quiet Time

2009-05-08T16:26:00.003-07:00

Dallin was pretty adamant about not taking a nap today, but I was so tired I thought I might fall over. I needed a nap, but leaving him in his room wasn't working out so I made him climb up into my bed and he fell asleep quite quickly once he laid down.

Tired Boys

2009-04-23T20:19:00.000-07:00

I don't remember where we were that day or why they were so tired, but both boys fell asleep on the way home. It was already dinner time and I didn't want them to take a long nap so I left them in the family room thinking me bustling around would wake them up. They must have been worn out though, because they slept until Mark got home from work. They are so precious when they are sleeping.

Scouts

2009-04-22T22:10:00.001-07:00

The Scouts had their activity in our backyard tonight. They were learning about knots and built this tower. They also found a rattlesnake. Mark is currently the Scoutmaster and loves it! It's about the only way he gets to go camping.

Visiting Law Schools

2009-04-21T09:29:00.003-07:00

The week before Easter Mark & I flew to North Carolina, got in a car and drove all over looking at different law schools. Unfortunately, I didn't take very many pictures, but I did manage to get a few.

Mark in front of the law school at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.

This is later that day in Cleveland. It was below freezing the whole day and even snowed off and on. I was not prepared for that cold of weather. It's April, what happened to spring?

Later that day we drove to Kirtland, Ohio and saw the church history sights. Here we are in front of Newell K. Whitney's general store. The store was on the bottom floor and upstairs Joseph and Emma lived for quite a while. A lot of the Doctrine & Covenants was written here and the School of the Prophets took place upstairs as well. What an amazing experience to see it for myself.

We also the temple. Unfortunately, it was closed that day, but at least I got to see it in person and walk around the grounds. You can't tell, but it was snowing most of the time we were there. It was so cold!

This is the Chicago skyline. We didn't get out of the car, but I've at least seen it now.

We also went to Madison, Wisconsin: which was beautiful and we drove to Lexington, Virginia;which was gorgeous. For some reason I didn't take any pictures, what was I thinking? Sometimes I would think to, but I had left the camera at the hotel or in the car. I guess I tend to be forgetful when I'm pregnant. We were away from the boys for 6 days! It was nice, but awful at the same time. I missed them so much, but we had fun and our trip was really enlightening. Hopefully, we will hear back from more schools soon and we can make a final decision.

The Zoo

2009-03-30T19:57:00.003-07:00

My cousin Sydney was in town this week and everyone wanted to go to the zoo so we made a little trip down there. The weather was amazing! And it was extra fun because Daddy was able to join us as well. Everything is more fun with Daddy.

Check out the tiger. He just jumped up into the tree while we were standing there. It was very cool. Plus now I know that climbing a tree will NOT save you from being eaten by a tiger. j/k

Daddy and his boys looking at the bears.

I don't know why I even bring the stroller when Daddy can carry the kids all over the zoo.

Sydney, Chereese, Janette, Mom, Grandma, Taya, Dallin & Steven

Visiting the horses

2009-03-25T20:33:00.004-07:00

The Reidhead family across the street have quite a few horses and the boys love to visit and feed the horses. Mark took the boys over to see the horses while I made dinner.

Once Steven heard the word "horses", he bolted out the front door and started running over to see them before he could finish getting dressed. We got him to stop just long enough to take a picture. I can't believe he can run through all of those rocks and weeds without shoes.

Helpful Big Brother

2009-03-21T14:52:00.004-07:00

Dallin helped me get Steven up from his nap today. What a big helper!

Spring Break

2009-03-13T21:30:00.005-07:00

Shelci & Brooks came to visit for Spring Break. They were only here for a few days, but we got chance to go to a park in Chandler where the kids rode a train and the carousel.

Dallin loved the carousel, but for some reason Steven was terrified.

Dallin & Daddy

Brooks, Shelci, Landon, Elliot & Chereese.

Dallin loves trains!

Dallin was so excited to ride the train! This was was his second time on the train.

Mark, Dallin, Amerae, Michael, Steven, and Mom.

Farmer's Market

2009-03-09T15:44:00.004-07:00

My grandparents are opening a farmer's market this coming weekend in Queen Creek. They are growing a lot of their own produce and will also have other produce available. There will also be fresh baked bread. Come check it out Friday or Saturday. Click on the link below for hours, directions, etc.

qcfarmersmarket.blogspot.com

Steven & Mommy

2009-03-07T21:55:00.004-07:00

I had to pose for a picture with Steven on my way to Pack Night. What a cutie.

This one of Steven's favorite things to do. I don't know what is so amusing about sitting in a laundry basket, but he loves it.

Lounging Around

2009-03-06T22:01:00.003-07:00

Steven was watching television and thought he looked too cute so I had to take a picture.

Brushing our teeth

2009-03-02T22:04:00.003-07:00

Recently, Steven has decided that brushing his teeth is one of his favorite things to do. He is constantly running to the bathroom, climbing up on the stool and reaching for the medicine cabinet to get his toothbrush. Sometime he'll do this 6 times a day. And when it is time to brush his teeth, he LOVES it.

But I don't need a nap

2009-03-01T22:09:00.003-07:00

Dallin thinks he doesn't need to take naps anymore, but his body differs in opinion. He fell asleep on the floor after a long day.

Follow the prophet

2009-03-01T20:50:00.002-07:00

Today I've been trying to review a lot of the things that I've taught Dallin, but hadn't asked him about in a while. One of those is the first presidency. He knows all of their names and can find them in pictures throughout the Ensign. It's been about 2 months since I've asked Dallin so I was afraid he might have forgotten. I can't say he forgot completely, he actually did pretty well. Here's how the conversation went:

I pointed to President Monson.

Me: "Who's that?"

Dallin: "The prophet."

Me: "What's his name?"

Dallin: "President Monster."

It took me a few seconds to stop laughing. I think even President Monson would think that's funny.

Eating Oranges

2009-02-14T22:13:00.005-07:00

Nana loves taking pictures of the boys. I think these are too sweet.

Happy Valentines Day

2009-02-14T20:29:00.003-07:00

For Valentines Day Dallin helped me make sugar cookies. He helped me make the cookie dough and then he cut out the cookies with heart cookie cutter after I rolled them out. Then he got to cover all of the cookies with sprinkles after I frosted them. He had a blast! At one point he got some frosting on his finger and licked it off. He said, "Mmm, it's good mommy." I told him that I knew it was good, but that he couldn't lick his fingers anymore, because he's allergic. He seemed fine with that; I can't believe what a great sport he is about the whole thing.

Later that day we took a plate of cookies along with a homemade valentine to Nana.

Naughty Child

2009-02-08T15:43:00.001-07:00

Steven is a very sweet and usually obedient child, but today when we got home from church it didn't take him more than 2 minutes to get into trouble. He knows he's not allowed to stand up on the rocking chair, because he not only stands, but then proceeds by rocking back and forth as wildly as he can. This is not the first time the chair has tipped backwards, but this time it was close enough to the wall that it got caught on the wall instead of falling all of the way and flinging him off. He definitely didn't learn anything from it this time.

Daddy Time

2009-02-06T22:35:00.003-07:00

We have a very specific bed time routine around here. Mommy is the one who sings and Daddy is the one who reads books. Mostly Steven runs around the room when it's time to read, but for some reason he decided to still for 30 seconds so I thought I would take a picture of the rare moment. Dallin has really enjoyed the Dr. Seuss books lately. Here Mark is reading Fox in Socks. I'm glad it's him and not me; that book makes my mouth hurt.

Team Geotrax!

2009-01-24T22:51:00.003-07:00

For Christmas Dallin got a new train set that he is beyond obsessed about. Some of the trains have remote controls but Dallin didn't know anything about that so we didn't put batteries in any of his trains. We figured we would wait a while and then adding batteries would make the train new and exciting again. Mark waited for as long as he could, but he got impatient and he wanted to play trains with Dallin with the remote controls. So, I went to the store and got some batteries so all of the boys could play trains together. Dallin loves this newest development!

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh my!

2009-01-23T23:06:00.002-07:00

My mom had to go Phoenix so we decided while we were out in that direction anyway, we might as well stop by the zoo for a couple of hours. The boys loved it! We got a membership the last time we went so I don't feel bad going to the zoo for just a couple of hours at a time.

When we got to my parents, my Dad was working in the field on the tractor. The boys look like they're alright with the situation, but in reality Steven was terrified.

Dallin was really excited to see the tigers.

The lions were out where we could see them, but they wouldn't turn their faces toward us.

I love how intrigued Dallin and Steven are by all the animals.

Aren't these macaw beautiful? Even Steven was enthralled by them. The cool thing is that they're not in a cage and you can practically walk right up to the tree. We were within 10 feet of them and they were being really playful with each other. It was really cute.

Does anyone else have trouble getting their kids to look or smile? I don't know why they're so unwilling to cooperate.

Dallin was really excited to see the bear, because last time we didn't get over to the bear exhibit. Unfortunately the bear was sleeping, but he didn't seem to mind.

The elephants are their favorite. They both make elephant noises and they love watching the elephants. We watched the elephants longer than any other animal. Even after 10 minutes I still couldn't get them to look for a picture. Silly boys.

It's a Boy!

2009-01-12T08:56:00.005-07:00

A few days ago we went to get an ultrasound and sure enough it's another boy! Everyone seemed to think it had to be a girl this time, but I knew otherwise. I'm convinced I will have at least 5 boys and they'll probably even be consecutive. We are very excited and I have to admit, I secretly wanted it to be a boy anyway. I already have boy stuff and I know what to do with boys.

Happy Birthday Dallin!

2009-01-06T22:27:00.004-07:00

Dallin's 3rd birthday was today. I saw a mom on TV a while back who had taken a picture of her kids every year on their birthday, first thing in the morning when they were still in bed. Then she put them all together so you could see all of them at once. I thought it was cute idea so I started it last year with Dallin.

Later during the day we went to the park. Dallin loves the swings so that's what he wanted to do for his special day.

Me, Steven, Dallin, Shelci, Elliot & Landon.

When I told Dallin the night before that we were going to the park, he said,"the swings?" He loves the swings more than any other kid I know.

Shelci & Elliot going down the slide.

Steven loves the swings too!

Elliot loves the swings, but Landon was not a big fan (that's putting it lightly). He hated it so much there wasn't any time to take a picture.

Later that night we pulled out the cake and I had run out of candles. All I had was trick candles so I put those on. I was afraid he might cry, but it was the exact opposite. I don't think I have ever see that kid laugh so hard in his whole life. He seriously laughed his head off for more than 20 minutes and when the candles burned so low that we couldn't use them anymore, he started to cry. I felt bad, but those 20 minutes were priceless. It must be great to be 3 years old!

2009-01-04T23:31:00.005-07:00

With all of the food allergies that Dallin has, he misses out on a lot of fun childhood moments. He rarely gets to lick the bowl, eat cookie dough or other things like that. I obviously had to make an allergy friendly birthday cake for his birthday and he was very excited to help me make the cake! He was even more excited when I told him he could lick the bowl and spatula. Hopefully, it will get less messy as he gets older. I'm glad I undressed him.

Playing with Daddy

2008-12-14T12:50:00.003-07:00

It's so fun when Daddy comes home early from work. Dallin asked really nicely if Mark would pull them around on the blanket, so he did. They had so much fun.

I love how Dallin is holding on really tight to Steven so he doesn't fall off the blanket.

It looks like Daddy is having fun too.

What cute smiles. Now that is 2 happy boys.

Polar Express

2008-12-14T12:48:00.000-07:00

On December 3 we drove up to Williams, AZ and rode on the Polar Express. It was so much fun! I thought it was a bit expensive when I booked it, but Dallin is a train freak so it was worth every penny! If you have ever thought about doing this I would really recommend it. The hot cocoa wasn't great and the cookies weren't edible, but the looks on the kids faces were amazing and Santa was fantastic!

Looking at the "North Pole".

Sami and Chereese showing off their bells.

Granda Ruth, Aunt Rae and Steven.

I couldn't pull Dallin away from the window. He was so intrigued.

Steven has a fascination with balls, they are his favorite toys. He really loved the bells, or balls as he called them. He loved shaking them at the same time to get them to ring.

Isn't that one of the best Santa's you've ever seen?! he was even better in person. He was probably 6"3" and his face was pink, jolly and I think he looks just like Santa Claus should. So much in fact I think I believe.

Steven, Dallin and Mommy. Grandma Ruth made all of us hats for the occasion. Aren't they cute? Too bad I couldn't get Steven to wear his.

Dallin, Steven and I in front of one of the trains on display. Isn't it amazing?

Everyone who came, John, Paulette, Grandma Ruth, Peggy, Fern, Amerae, Dallin, Heidi, Steven, Chereese, Brie, Sami, Janette and Taya. We had so much fun!

Decorating the Christmas Tree

2008-12-14T12:36:00.000-07:00

We've never had children old enough to really participate in Christmas activities. This year Dallin is finally getting the idea of Christmas, and he loves it! He wanted to help with everything on the tree. He loved to watch us put the lights on the tree and insists on plugging the tree in every morning and evening. When we were done with the lights we let Dallin put the the Star on, he was very proud of himself and insisted on doing it all by himself.

"Look at what I did Mommy?"

Steven wanted to help too, or maybe he just wanted to climb up the ladder. He's a major climber.

Mark tried to put it on first, but Dallin made him take it off and insisted that he didn't need Daddy to help at all.

2008-12-09T23:43:00.003-07:00

With Paulette and Mike in town I've been telling my mom that I wanted to have a doughnut party. So we all got together and the kids got to roll and cut out doughnuts. We also made churros so Dallin and Steven would have somethings to eat. We had a lot of fun and everything turned out really yummy!

I was in charge of the churros.

I love this picture because it looks just like one of me. My mom has a picture of me when I was this age rolling out dough with the same rolling pins. The finger placement is almost exactly the same.

You can't get these two away from each other, or the churros.

Dallin is very proud of his handy work. What a big kid.

I'm Alive!

2008-11-30T20:14:00.000-07:00

So, I have definitely not been on top of my blogging recently. A couple of months ago I was reading my friend's blog and she said the first week of not blogging was really difficult, the second was a little better and by the third week she hardly missed it at all. I think I feel the same way, the longer I don't blog the easier it is to not blog at all. The thought of back dating all of the posts that I should have been posting for the last 2 months. AHHHHHH!!!!! However, this is the only way I document the daily grind of our family and so I will catch up......... soon. But onto my excuses or I guess it all boils down to one main excuse as to why I have not been blogging...I'm pregnant! Yeah! I'm almost 14 weeks and just getting over the morning sickness, or in my case the "all waking hours of the day sickness". However, I'm feeling much better and hope to start catching up with the blogging soon. Just as soon as I get some motivation. So the baby is due June 1, 2009, and we should probably find out in 5 or 6 weeks what we're having. I'm sure you'll see plenty of posts between now and then and I'll be sure to let everyone know what we're having when we find out.

Hi Elder Peterson!

2008-11-18T23:33:00.000-07:00

I know I have not blogged in a very long time and I promise to make a real post very soon, but in the mean time I wanted to post a hello to my brother Max. I just found out that he can check out my blog while he's serving his mission in Brazil.

Hello Elder! I hope you are doing well! Things are going pretty good for us. My exciting news of the day is that after 3 months of my dishwasher being broken, it is finally fixed! Hallelujah! The boys are getting big and we're all doing great! I hope you're doing well. We love you and will talk to you soon. Hopefully, next week I'll have something better to post. Maybe some actual happenings in the Jacobson home. We love you!

Mark, Heidi, Dallin & Steven

Max, this picture is for you. It was the best recent picture I could find that I thought you might enjoy.

Puppy Love

2008-10-12T23:58:00.001-07:00

My parents found this dog with her new litter of puppies in their yard. Dallin loved those dogs so much, but unfortunately he was allergic, should I be surprised? I felt bad, I thnk my parents wanted to keep them until they saw the terrible breathing reaction that Dallin had to those puppies. He sure had fun while it lasted though.

He was so proud of himself when he figured out he could pick up the puppies and take them back to their bed. He couldn't figure out why they kept jumping out.

I took this picture the same day and since I didn't have any pictures of Steven with the puppies I felt compelled to include it.

The Ranch - The Tire Swings

2008-10-12T23:22:00.000-07:00

One of Dallin's favorite things about the trip was the tire swings. My boys are swing freaks! They love the swings. Mark kept giving the kids turns on the tire swings and every time Dallin had to get down he'd throw a tantrum. Finally, when all of the other kids got bored of the swings, mark continued to push Dallin for over a half hour until we told him that it had been long enough. I do have to admit though, the swing was very fun. As a side note, it was really hard to get good pictures on the swing because it was moving so fast.

Mark pushing Dallin on the swing.

Originally said I wanted a turn just to tease the kids, but Mark insisted that I take a turn. I'm glad I did, it was so fun! Mark was pushing and spinning me like a maniac!

Steven loved the swing too. When we took him off of the swing he threw a tantrum as well. I wish they didn't do that.

The Ranch

2008-10-12T23:08:00.001-07:00

This weekend Marks' brother Jeff and his wife Shauna invited us to go to her family's ranch in Southern Arizona. We had a blast! We watched movies, read books, and they even chased the horses for hours because somehow the horses got out. They never did catch up to the horses so we never got to ride them but we still had so much fun. Right next to the house they tons of giant trees that kids climb up on and hide. It's so cool. They climb up really high, lay flat on one of the branches, and the branches are so thick that you can't even see the kids. It's pretty cool. And the kids love it.

Emma & Amy

Bradley

Tanner

Everyone hanging out, watching a movie.

Happy Birthday Sandra

2008-10-12T22:58:00.000-07:00

Last Monday we went to park to celebrate Mark's mom, Sandra's birthday. we had dinner and the kids played on the toys. It was good to be able to get together and let the kids play.

Dallin and Bradley. I love that I finally have a child old enough to play with other kids and especially cousins. It's so nice.

Happy Birthday Sandra!

Three on a trike

2008-10-12T22:51:00.000-07:00

Last Christmas my parents bought a tricycle for Dallin to play with when we go to their house. I've figured out that I can sit on the back and pedal the trike while one of the boys sits on the seat. They love it. Steven and I were pedaling around the house when Dallin came in and declared it was his turn so we all took a turn.

Steven & Mikey - Quite a pair

2008-10-12T22:43:00.000-07:00

I've seen kids with a favorite aunt or uncle before, but Steven takes it to a whole new level. When my brother Michael walks in the room it's like time stands still. Steven watches Michael's every move. He lights up like nothing I've ever seen before and no one will do, except Michael. He'll even cry if anyone takes him away from Michael, myself included sometimes. The best part has to be how much Michael loves it. He walks around trying to get other people to put their hands out to take Steven away, just to show everyone that Steven clings on even tighter and turns into Michael to get away from whatever awful person wanted to hold him. Silly boys.

Play Day

2008-10-12T22:30:00.001-07:00

Recently McKenzie and Malia Plastow came over to play for the day. Dallin loves having friends over to play and they all had a blast!

Dallin actually sharing his toys. It's a miracle!

You can't tell by looking at the picture, but they were eating a snack. I gave them grapes and apples. At one point I started throwing the grapes into the air and catching them with my mouth. All 3 of them thought that was hilarious. I never got a good picture, but they were laughing almost uncontrollably at points. How fun to be young and so easily amused.

I got out some books to read to them, but they decided they didn't need me. How cute are they?

General Conference

2008-10-12T22:25:00.000-07:00

Last weekend when we were watching conference Dallin kept doing funny things. Two hours of conference can be a long time for any child, especially a 2 year old. So, while I was watching conference I wasn't surprised to hear Dallin ask me multiple times to "pause it", or turn it off in other words. He was constantly asking me what I was doing and I told him I was watching conference. I would point out the different speakers and tell him who they were. I told him that President Monson was the Prophet and pointed out others as Apostles or whatever their calling might be. To be honest I didn't know the best way to explain things to Dallin so I told him that they worked for Jesus. They teach us the things that Jesus wants us to know. Then he asked if it was like church, I said yes. He actually did really well listening to conference. He stayed in the room the whole time and only played with toys for 1/2 to 2/3 of the time. I was actually impressed. He sat next to me on the couch for a few of the talks. One talk in particular I told him that the speaker was telling us that it's good to read our scriptures. I wasn't sure if he cared or was even listening to me, but I tried anyway. Then throughout the talks he kept saying, "In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen", or in other words, finish up. Although not funny to some, I have to admit I found it humorous. He was trying so hard, but the talks were just too long for him. When Elder Oaks gave his talk I told Dallin that they had the same name of Dallin and that he was named after Elder Oaks. I thought he might like that, but just the opposite, he started to whine. Maybe he'll understand when he gets a little older. My favorite part of the whole experience had to be when it was over. I was talking to my mom on the phone and I asked Dallin about conference.

Me - "Dallin, did we watch conference today?"

Dallin - "Yes."

Me - "Did we learn about Jesus?"

Dallin - "Yes. It's good to read scriptures."

Hallelujah! He was listening. These are the days that you feel like you are doing your job to teach them. What a great feeling.

Talking to Daddy

2008-10-09T15:04:00.005-07:00

Every time I'm talking to Mark on the phone Steven says, "Daddy". So I tried giving him the phone to talk to Mark. He walks all over the place babbling here and there. The main point is to get as far away from me as possible. Dallin did that too. I think it's so I won't take the phone away.

Front View

Back View

Now he's got it.

Sunday with Shelci

2008-09-30T14:13:00.000-07:00

Before Shelci, Brooks and the boys had to go home that night everyone went to my parents' house for Sunday Dinner. I wish I could post more pictures, but these were some of my favorite.

What a group of cute boys.

What a great cousin Dallin is.

How many people does it take to get a picture of four boys?

Dallin loves to help with the dishes. Hopefully, this trend doesn't wear off.

What a beautiful picture of Gabrielle. Landon is pretty darn cute as well.

Austin & Erins' Wedding

2008-09-29T13:59:00.000-07:00

Erin & Austin got a married a couple of weeks ago in San Diego, but they had their open house at my parents home. I volunteered to make the cupcakes. They turned out pretty well if I do say so myself. My dad and brother Michael also helped me build the cupcake tower. I did sand, paint and putty though, so I was somewhat helpful.

Austin & Erin

Putting the cupcakes on the tower.

I thought the above shot was pretty cool.

Splash Park

2008-09-29T13:24:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, while Shelci was visiting we went to Tempe and went to the splash park. My boys absolutely loved it! We had a really fun time and the weather was great. It was warm enough to get wet, but not blazing hot.

Chereese, Steven, Amerae, Dallin, Landon, Shelci and Elliot.

Chereese & Steven

Dallin getting Aunt Rae

Steven & Mommy

Don't I have such a precious baby?

Shelci's Home!

2008-09-28T21:35:00.001-07:00

Shelci, Landon & Elliot came to visit this week. We spent a lot of time visiting and playing. Wednesday night we hung out at my mom's house. We had dinner, and I made some peach pies.

Landon loves his mommy and his bear.

Amerae, Mom, Elliot and Chereese

Steven loved the peach pie, could you tell?

What a funny group of kids.

Atomic Cloud?

2008-09-24T23:30:00.000-07:00

So, the other day as Mark and I were driving, I look out my window and see this.

Now, it's not exactly like the real thing, but it sure made me do a double take. How weird is that?

Ward Camp Out

2008-09-24T23:12:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we went to the ward camp out. In all of the years that we have been married we have never made it out to a ward camp out before. It's not because I'm a huge wimp or anything, but something always comes up. We finally were able to go and we had a lot of fun. The campsite was about 30 minutes outside of Globe. The nighttime was freezing, but the daytime was blazing hot, go figure. It was fun to visit with people from the ward and the kids absolutely loved it!

Helping Daddy take down the tent.

What a cute kid.

Sticks, rocks and dirt, what more could a boy want?

Aren't these girls too cute?

Big Brother

2008-09-24T23:10:00.000-07:00

On the way up to our ward camp out Dallin kept reaching over to hold Steven's hand. He kept taking his hand and then talking to him. It was like he didn't want Steven to feel left out because he's facing the opposite direction. I thought he would stop doing it before I got out the camera, but he kept doing it over and over again. What a great big brother.

Fifty Nifty United States

2008-09-20T17:23:00.001-07:00

It's amazing to me how quickly kids learn. A couple of months ago I bought this puzzle for Dallin. At the time he needed a lot of help to complete the puzzle, but within a few days he could recognize the states and even name some of them. For a few weeks after that he wanted me to "help" him, but it was more of a, "Please play with me Mom?". But, now he can do it all by himself. He knows almost all of his states. If you ask him for a specific state he'll scoop it up and put it where it belongs. The next step is a world puzzle. He'll know his countries before I do.

Putting in the very last peace. Then he looks up at me for approval. What a cute kid.

Bean, Beans, They're Good For Your Heart.

2008-09-20T17:19:00.000-07:00

The other day we had beans for dinner. They're one of Steven's favorites, can you tell?

Dairy, Soy, Peanut and Egg Free Cake - Yum!

2008-09-16T15:05:00.001-07:00

With Dallin having food allergies and me being advised not to expose Steven to those same allergens I have had a lot of practice with cooking allergy-free. However, I get stumped every year when it comes to birthdays. Normally, the kids don't eat treats. Dallin isn't interested and if I do make something allergen-free, he sticks his nose up at it. Every birthday cake I have made is a total disaster! How do you make a cake and frosting without butter, milk, eggs, etc? Yeah, I'm not sure either. Well, I did tons of research and finally found a few recipes and this is what I made. Not the best cake I've made by any means, but not the worst cake I've tasted. If nothing else, this will work. The funny thing about it though is when I finished the cake I cut out a little piece and asked Dallin to try it. He started to whine and even cry a little because he didn't want to eat it (if I think it's good, it must be gross). I told him it was like waffles (his favorite food), and even that didn't work. Eventually, I pulled the, "Don't you want to be obedient?" line. He finally ate it and even liked it. But not enough to ask for more. He never has asked for more dessert. What a crazy kid. Can you believe the effort I put into trying to get my kids to eat unhealthy things? What's wrong with me?!

Costa Reesa

2008-09-14T16:08:00.000-07:00

Normally, I don't wear shirts with writing on them, but this particular day I grabbed the first thing I saw and this happened to be the shirt I selected. Dallin has more recently been interested in his ABC's and was fascinated by the letters on my shirt. I asked him what letters he saw and so on. then I told him that my shirt said "Costa Rica" and he says, "Costa Reesa?" I told him yes because bless his heart he has an Aunt Reesa and I knew she would love it if he named a country after her. I think for years to come it will be Costa Reesa at our house.

Wedding Cupcakes!

2008-09-09T11:21:00.000-07:00

I'm making the cupcakes for my cousin's open house later this month and I need to do a cupcake testing with the bride and groom to be. So the question is what flavors are best for a wedding? She wants yellow with chocolate frosting, chocolate with chocolate and I was going to try a red velvet. What else should I make for them to sample? White, lemon? I don't want a ton of leftover cupcakes in one flavor that no one likes. So, what do you all want to eat a reception? Thanks for the help!

Labor Day

2008-09-01T22:06:00.000-07:00

For Labor Day we went to my parents' house and went swimming. The boys loved it! We played in the pool and had a barbecue. It was really low key, but tons of fun! Dallin kept throwing the torpedos into the pool, but made other people retrieve them for him. Steven found a basketball and with the assistance of others was dunking it in the basketball hoop, he loved it.

Daddy's Big Helper

2008-09-01T12:05:00.000-07:00

Labor Day morning Mark was in the yard pulling weeds and Dallin wanted to help. He found the shovel that Mark had been using and got right to work. He even helped Mark get all of the weeds into a pile. He was very pleased with himself.

Normally he would not wear a hat, but hey, this is like Daddy's hat! It must be cool.

Please don't make me eat candy!

2008-08-22T11:10:00.000-07:00

While we were staying with Shelci and Brooks they went to a baseball game and brought home some cotton candy. They asked if they could give Dallin some and this was his response.

The crying probably lasted for about 5 minutes.

At one point the crying got so bad that the tantrum made its' way to the floor. If you look at the picture closely, you can see a huge alligator tear on the left side.

After a lot of convincing, Uncle Brooks managed to get him to try it. Hmm.... he said, "It's good." But you never know, because after that he wasn't interested in eating anymore. What a silly kid.

Riverfront Park

2008-08-21T20:28:00.000-07:00

One of the days that we were visiting Shelci we went to Riverfront park. It's this great park in downtown Spokane. It's seriously amazing. We don't have anything that cool here in Arizona. The weather was amazing. It was cool and it even drizzled off and on throughout the day. It was perfect.

Aren't these blocks a cute idea?

Dallin loved this giant wagon. Doesn't it make the cutest slide?

Steven gives me the greatest smiles. I can't believe how cute he is!

I don't know if you can see them, but behind Dallin there were a bunch of ducks. He thought that was pretty cool and was following them around for quite a while.

You wouldn't believe how difficult it was to get this picture. (Or maybe you fellow mothers would.) I'm surprised it turned out this good.

Driving to Shelci's

2008-08-19T20:23:00.000-07:00

We drove for 2 full days to go and see Shelci. I sure hope she feels loved. Steven hated being in the car and made sure I never forgot it. Dallin on the other hand was almost a perfect angel. He kept telling me we were going to Washington to see Shelci and Brooks. I thought the second day of driving he would have a cow when we went to put him in the car, but he just kept saying, "Shelci, Brooks, Washington." He might have been more patient about it then I was.

I bought Dallin a new toy for the second day in hopes of distracting him. It's a fish puzzle with magnets so you can use the magnetic fishing pole to fish out the puzzle pieces. What a cute idea!

New Dishwasher!

2008-08-13T20:54:00.000-07:00

On Sunday after church Mark and I realized that the dishwasher was no longer working. Mark started it and then a few minutes later we caught Dallin playing with the buttons. Just a matter of minutes after that it stopped working completely. No lights, nothing. At first we thought it was a tripped breaker, but everthing is in order. We can't figure out what's wrong. So in light of this situation we got a new dishwasher. That's right, me!

While I was washing dishes Steven was playing on the floor of the kitchen and opened the drawer under the stove. He then proceeded to climb into the drawer. I thought it was pretty funny and he was very proud of himself.

I love Costco

2008-08-12T20:37:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure why, but I have this love affair with Costco. It's just a store, I know, but I can't help it. Any excuse to go to Costco and I'm there. I love browsing on all of the aisles that I can't buy anything from. Do I feel poor, sure, but I still love looking at all of the fun kitchen gadgets, craft items, clothing, toys, books, etc. I know this is a problem, but admitting it is the first step, right?

So today I took the kids to Costco because I needed new tires. I brought my brother Michael along because he didn't have anything better to do right? j/k We walked around the store goofing off and taking pictures while we were waiting, here are some of my favorites.

We found some office chairs in one of the aisles and they made a fun game for the boys. we kept spinning them around. They loved it.

Don't you wish that having a coupon for an item you didn't absolutely need meant that you should still get it? Yeah, me too.

Josh & Heather's Reception

2008-08-09T23:44:00.000-07:00

Tonight was Josh & Heather's reception. It was at The Wright House - Provencal. The food was delicious, the flowers and decor were gorgeous and Heather looked amazing. Josh looked pretty good too. We had a lot of fun. Congratulations!

Please bare with me. I know this is a lot of pictures, but I got some really good ones. Besides, be glad I didn't post all of them. I think I had four times this many.

They have to eat too don't they?

The first dance.

My mom said not to delete this picture. I know it's fuzzy, but she says the lighting makes it romantic. Maybe she's right. I like it more and more as I look at it.

Random reception pictures

2008-08-09T23:38:00.001-07:00

Mark & Heidi. I told Shelci I would post a picture of me with my new haircut so here it is. Thanks Jenny, I love it!

Erin & Austin

Dallin ran away and this is where i found him.

The Dancing - Josh & Heather's Reception

2008-08-09T23:24:00.000-07:00

Heather dancing with her father.

Dallin, Amerae & Mataya.

Chereese & Dallin

Erin & Austin. To be engaged and in love. I think this is what it looks like.

The Flowers - Josh & Heather's Reception

2008-08-09T23:00:00.001-07:00

I wish I were more talented in the picture taking department, or at I at least wish I had a better camera, but this will have to do. These pictures do not give the flowers justice, they were beautiful.

Isn't the lighting on this cool? I had a hard time getting this picture. Without the flash everything I was taking was blurry. Good job me. j/k

Cutting fruit for the reception

2008-08-09T22:55:00.001-07:00

This afternoon before the reception we had a fruit cutting party at Janette's house, what fun.

Mom (Peggy), Chereese and Ruthann

Janette, isn't she too cute?

Ruthann & Erin

Vaccum Intrigue

2008-08-07T22:47:00.000-07:00

Both of my boys have had a love/hate relationship with vaccum cleaners. Even Dallin as a baby loved the vaccum cleaner, he would watch me vaccum for hours it would seem. He was scared of it too though. As a matter of fact one time the vaccum cleaner was sitting out right next to the front door and I had to go outside onto the porch. I heard him screaming inside because he couldn't see me anymore, but he wasn't going anywhere near that machine to get to me.

I think Steven feels the same way. He sat still for 10 minutes while I was vaccuming! Unbelievable. However, as soon as the vaccum got too close he started crying and Mark had to pick him up. It was funny to watch his head turn to follow the vaccum cleaner everywhere it went. What a funny boy.

He's a Bread Machine!

2008-08-07T22:30:00.000-07:00

Steven loves to eat! One of his new favorites is the home made bread I make. He rarely sits still so it's quite funny that he'll sit back and relax with Mark to eat his bread. He seriously laid still eating that piece of bread for more than 5 minutes. Impressive. I must make good bread or something.

Doing the dishes

2008-08-05T13:22:00.001-07:00

Every Sunday we go to my parents' house for dinner. This week after we were done with dinner Dallin decided he wanted to wash his hands so he pulled a chair from the dining room all the way to the kitchen sink. A few minute later we were sitting in the family room visiting when I notice Dallin on the chair again with his hands in the sink washing dishes. But he's not playing. He washes a glass bowl and then puts on the counter and continues with other breakable items. Mark rushed over to "help" him, not stop him. How can you discourage helping with chores? i ran to grab the camera so I could at least capture these photos. Unfortunately, he hates the "light" or flash on the camera so he doesn't like me to take his picture.

Look at those soggy shorts.

What a good helper.

Mark told him to show me the bubbles, he's very confused can you tell?

Nana & Steven. Aren't they cute? I had to include this picture.

I'm Done!

2008-08-03T00:14:00.001-07:00

I'm done reading Breaking Dawn! Don't worry I'm not going to give anything away. It took longer to finish then I thought it would, but I loved it. Maybe others didn't, but I did. Not quite what I had anticipated, but awesome.

Breaking Dawn!

2008-08-02T13:02:00.000-07:00

Amerae and I went to Walmart Friday night to buy Breaking Dawn. At first we were afraid we might not get a book and were wondering if we should have preordered our books from Borders. Everything turned out just fine though. We first showed up at 9:30 and no one was there so we came back at 10:30 and maybe 10 people were there so we stayed. You might not believe this, but when they brought out the books there were grown women in line screaming! Not just squealing, but screaming. And I thought I was excited.

Amerae & I sitting on the floor. Gross I know, but I couldn't stand that long. Besides we brought a DVD player and tried to watch a movie. That was until it got extremely loud.

This picture doesn't show how long the line was, but you get the idea.

Jennie, Jessica & I.

So long, farewell.

2008-08-02T10:40:00.000-07:00

Shelci, Landon & Elliot left on Friday. Susie and Tannis went with them to help them get settled in and see their new house. I took these while Shelci was in line at the ticket counter, but after that I forgot to take anymore pictures. I think I was too emotional to be thinking straight.

Amerae & Tannis

Amerae & Elliot

Chereese & Elliot

Landon

Why can't my dad smile for one picture? He either looks like this or he looks upset. Will he ever learn?

Girls' Lunch

2008-07-31T15:04:00.000-07:00

In case I haven't mentioned it already, Shelci is leaving tomorrow (It's a joke). Shelci decided to invite all the girls in her family to lunch. We went to Cravings, yummy as usual. While we were there, people were oohing and aahing over the babies. One gentleman interrupted us to tell us what a cute group we were. What a nice man. Another woman even called us the baby club. Six kids and seven adults, is that bad?

Now to the best part, the pictures.

Landon, Shelci, Elliot, Taryn, Ian, Kelley, Emery, Peggy, Steven, Susie, Tannis, Heidi & Dallin

Shelci & Me

The Crandell Crew, Landon, Shelci, Elliot, Taryn, Ian, Kelley, Emery, Susie & Tannis

Landon, Shelci, Elliot, Taryn & Ian

The world's greatest uncle

2008-07-31T08:51:00.000-07:00

Wednesday was a long day. Now you can bear with me or you can stop reading. Some of this is funny or interesting while some of it might be boring to others, but here it is.

Most of the excitement started in the evening. After cleaning the house and making cookies for the Deacons who were coming for mutual, I was about to put the boys to bed. Then I realized they hadn't said goodbye to Brooks and he was leaving in a matter of hours. I got them dressed and we went next door. I had never tried to explain to Dallin about Shelci & Brooks moving. I thought he would be too young to understand. we walked through the house and I showed him that all of the furniture and things were gone. He understood that concept, but the fact that Shelci & Brooks were driving in the car far away to live somewhere else meant nothing to him. Then it was time for them to say goodbye. This by far the hardest part of the day. I didn't realize how hard it would be for Dallin & Brooks to say goodbye. I hated watching Brooks say goodbye. It almost tore my heart of my chest. I tried not to cry too much. It almost made it worse that Dallin has no clue. Dallin & Brooks are like best buddies. Sometimes Brooks calls just to see if Dallin and can play and sure enouh Dallin just goes over to play. What a great uncle!

Right after that the Deacons came over for mutual and Dallin was hanging out with them for a few minutes. I wish I had had my camera ready because when I walked into the room they were doing one of their scouting or priesthood oaths. And there was Dallin standing right next to him with his arm to the square mumbling right along with them and staring at them intently. Too cute! They were done as soon as I came in the room though so no pic, sorry.

After that the moving truck was packed up and I followed Brooks to my parents.

Everyone said goodbye at my parents, which thankfully was less heart wrenching.

I stayed for a while and hung out. I rarely get a chance to hang out with my siblings without my own children around. It was really fun, almost like living at home. Did I say that living at home was fun? OK maybe not like living at home. j/k

I'm sick of packing!

2008-07-29T01:07:00.000-07:00

I'm not the one who is moving, but Shelci & Brooks really have their hands full so I spend a lot of nights there helping pack boxes. My back hurts and I'm sick of it because it seems like it will never end, but I can only imagine how they feel.

Brooks packing up things in the family room.

Shelci in the spare room. They've filled this room with all of the packed boxes that are ready to go. It's even worse than it looks in the picture.

Me trying to pack the last box of the kitchen. YEAH! In my opinion the kitchen was the worst. Packing glass, appliances, and tons of breakables; not fun.

Earlier we went to Serranos for dinner as a family for FHE. Yummy.

Brooks, Elliot, Shelci, Chereese, Michael, Steven and Amerae.

Dallin was getting bored in the restaurant so he went for a walk . He found this fountain in the courtyard. You might not be able to tell, but he's soaked. His aunts and uncle even convinced to climb in. They are so naughty. They didn't stop him until he already had one foot in. He was already wet and he was having such a good time that we just let him carry on. Don't you want to jump in too?

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

2008-07-25T23:03:00.000-07:00

In the BOM when Mosiah (Mosiah 25) calls all of his people together he reads them the record of Zeniff and tells them of Alma and his brethren. Some may have noticed this while others may have over looked it. Anyway, the people are happy, then sad, then happy and then sad and then happy, etc. The reason this is funny in my house is because it reminds me of the Muppet movie "The Frog Prince". My husband had a companion that said it reminded him of an episode of the Smurfs. The point is that we can never read it without doing greatly exaggerated sound effects and a few giggles. Yes, I admit it, we giggle when reading. Shame on us.

The point of that background info is that I very much feel like that this week. I am a Twilight fanatic! I am so excited for the release! I am picking up my book at midnight and will be reading it immediately until it is finished. YEAH! But then I am sad be cause my sister is leaving to go Spokane. Oh:( But my book comes out next Saturday. YEAH! But my sister is leaving. Oh:( Etc., etc., etc.

You get the point.

I have been searching of a good picture of Shelci and I. You would think that living next door to each other we would have tons of pictures together. Well, we don't. All of our pictures have other people in them. This one is 18 months ago at California Adventure, but it will do.

Gorgeous Sunset

2008-07-24T13:07:00.001-07:00

When I took these pictures I had no intention of posting them because I always seem to take terrible pictures when it comes to what Mother Nature has to offer us, However, these are pretty good. Not the real thing by any means, but still good.

So anyway, Tuesday evening right after I put the kids in bed I was working in the kitchen when I looked outside and saw the most beautiful light hitting the ground in the yard. I grabbed my camera off the counter and walked outside. I never used to think that Arizona was all that pretty when I was younger, but as I get older I'm growing more of an appreciation for it. I can't believe I can see something so beautiful while standing in my own front yard. What a blessing it is to live in a place so beautiful!

If you click on the pictures the colors are much more impressive.

Goodbye Party

2008-07-22T14:16:00.000-07:00

Monday night for FHE we all got together at my mom's house to have a goodbye party for Shelci & Brooks. I still can't believe that they leave next week for Spokane, WA. I think I might need to be committed after she leaves, no seriously.

Shelci & I

Shelci, Steven, Brooks & Dallin

Jordan, Steven & Sami

I made 2 delicious kinds of cookies. They are both a take on the popular "chippers" from Paradise Bakery. The truth is the chocolate with white chocolate chip cookies are just as good, but the oatmeal version of mine is even better than the original. Sorry the picture is blurry, it doesn't do them justice. If you want the recipes, I'll email them to you.

Sunday with the family

2008-07-22T14:06:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to make more of a point to take more pictures. We had a few extra minutes before leaving for church; which is quite remarkable for us considering we are usually late. Anyhow, we got a few good pictures.

Mark, Steven and Dallin

Steven & I

We almost always go to my parents house on Sundays for Sunday dinner. Dallin loves to read with anybody, especially Nana.

Aunt Rae & Steven

Bridal Shower

2008-07-18T14:00:00.001-07:00

Today was Heather's Bridal Shower. We went to Paradise Bakery and had wonderful food. I'm still amazed at how good those cookies are. She opened presents and we all had a good time. Ruthann even gave her a pearl necklace that belonged to Josh's grandmother, it was beautiful. It's always so much fun when the girls get together. I think we should do this more often.

Two milestones in one week!

2008-07-16T21:32:00.000-07:00

Dallin learned his ABC's this last week. He loves to sing, as a matter of fact, we sing all of the time. He's always saying "Singin Mommy". His favorite songs are When I Am Baptized (the look for rainbows song), I Am a Child of God, Sesame Street, Elmo's World and his ABC's. He's known the tune for his ABC's for a while now, but it was only a matter of a few days and he had over 90% of the letters right. Kids are like sponges, it's amazing! Now we sing the ABC's all the time; during dinner, in the bathtub, when he wakes up from a nap and maybe 30 more times throughout the day. Literally, we sing it that much. I'm so excited to see him learn more and more each day.

What a big boy! We are so proud of Steven. He's just turned 8 months old and he's already taken his first steps. He started to stand just after he turned 7 months old and now he took his first step Saturday, July 12. Then today he graduated to 2 steps. WOW!

Steven follows me around the house wherever I go and is constantly pulling himself to standing while grabbing my legs. If I wander to far he gets upset and when I give him my undivided attention he just beams at me. What a great feeling it is to be loved!

I'm a blogger!

2008-06-27T17:27:00.000-07:00

This is the most recent family picture I have. I guess I need to get the camera out again soon.

Dallin, 2 and Steven, 7 months. They are just learning to play together. Dallin's favorite new things to say are "No, baby," and "No, me!"

Blessing Day for Landon & Elliot

2008-06-22T22:25:00.000-07:00

Landon & Elliot were blessed in church on Sunday, June 22, 2008.

Dad, Mom, Shelci, Landon, Elliot, Brooks, Susie & Dave

Dad holding Landon & Mom holding Elliot.

Aren't they so precious in their matching outfits?